Fear factor: How to tell who's sweating

7/13/12 3:14 PM EDT

Forget about the polls or what politicians say about the state of their campaign. It’s the little things that reveal who’s sweating bullets and who’s not. Here are three examples from Friday:

Mitt Romney

The Condi for VP float? Five television interviews? In one day? A Romney interview on any one of the broadcast networks is a rare sight, so the fact that he’s doing three on Friday — ABC, NBC, and CBS — not to mention CNN and Fox News, reflects serious concern in Boston over the need to stanch the Bain Capital bleeding.

Shelley Berkley

In case you were wondering, EMILY’s List supports Berkley, the Nevada Democratic congresswoman whose Senate candidacy has been imperiled by the House Ethics Committee’s decision to formally investigate allegations that she used her influence to help her husband's medical practice.

That's old news, of course. The group has been backing her since last year — and even has a page dedicated to Berkley’s candidacy. Still, it released a statement Friday on the Nevada Senate race again backing her candidacy.

Locked in a dead heat race with GOP Sen. Dean Heller, Berkley needs to convey the impression that there’s no cause for alarm and no one is jumping ship. A public show of support from a political A-lister like EMILY's List helps in that respect.

Jeff Flake

Arizona GOP Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl publicly threw their support behind the Republican congressman Friday in a bit of political theater prompted by the beating Flake is taking from cash-flush Republican Wil Cardon in the Senate primary.

McCain was known to favor Flake, but Kyl, who is not running for reelection, had kept a low profile in the race. Both said Friday they acted because they were disturbed by the harsh tenor of the Cardon campaign; the event suggested that a primary that once figured to be a blowout win for Flake is suddenly closer than expected.